Many communication protocols specify a protocol stack made-up of multiple layers, such as a Physical layer (PHY), a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer and an application layer. In the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) or Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol stack, the MAC layer is specified, for example, in “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (Release 11),” TS 25.321, version 11.0.0, December, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference.
In the protocol stack of Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), also referred to as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), the MAC layer is specified, for example, in “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (Release 10),” TS 36.321, version 10.4.0, December, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The E-UTRA protocol further comprises a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer above the MAC layer. The RLC layer for UTRA is specified, for example, in “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol specification (Release 10),” TS 25.322, version 10.1.0, June, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference. The RLC layer for E-UTRA is specified, for example, in “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol specification (Release 10),” TS 36.322, version 10.0.0, December, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The UTRA PDCP layer is specified, for example, in “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) specification (Release 10),” TS25.323, version 10.1.0, June, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference. The E-UTRA PDCP layer is specified, for example, in “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) specification (Release 10),” TS 36.323, version 10.1.0, March, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The description above is presented as a general overview of related art in this field and should not be construed as an admission that any of the information it contains constitutes prior art against the present patent application.